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Assistant Engineer salary in Ireland

Assistant Engineer is the entry professional engineering grade in an Irish county or city council, and the usual first post after graduating. Its scale is long, eleven points before the increments, so it takes time to climb.

The short answer

A newly qualified assistant engineer starts on €48,248 a year. After 17 years of service you reach the top of the scale on €74,809. Allowances for promoted posts and, for some teachers, qualifications are paid on top of these figures.

Starting salary
€48,248
about €3,206 a month take-home
Top of the scale
€74,809
about €4,309 a month take-home

Figures from Circular EL 04/2026, effective 1 June 2026. Take-home is for a single person with standard credits, after income tax, USC, PRSI and ASC.

What point of the scale am I on?

This is where most salary pages get it wrong. Your point is not always the same as your years of service, because one of the two scales carries incremental skips. Pick your situation:

You are on point 1
€48,248

The full pay scale, every point

Assistant Engineer

Eleven ordinary points followed by two long service increments. The increments on this scale are unusually even, sitting between €2,100 and €2,700 almost the whole way up.

Point Gross / year Take-home / year Take-home / month
1€48,248€38,467€3,206
2€50,942€39,836€3,320
3€52,949€40,856€3,405
4€55,032€41,914€3,493
5€57,166€42,998€3,583
6€59,335€44,100€3,675
7€61,524€45,210€3,768
8€63,714€46,321€3,860
9€65,903€47,431€3,953
10€68,095€48,542€4,045
11€70,299€49,647€4,137
LSI 1€72,552€50,676€4,223
LSI 2€74,809€51,708€4,309

Take-home assumes a single person with the personal and employee tax credits, no other income, and ASC at Single Public Service Pension Scheme rates. Your main superannuation contribution is deducted separately and depends on your scheme.

What you earn in each year of your career

On the assistant engineer scale scale you move up one point for each year of satisfactory service, with no skipped points. That means 17 years of service to reach the top.

Years of service Your point Gross salary
Year 1Point 1€48,248
Year 2Point 2€50,942
Year 3Point 3€52,949
Year 4Point 4€55,032
Year 5Point 5€57,166
Year 6Point 6€59,335
Year 7Point 7€61,524
Year 8Point 8€63,714
Year 9Point 9€65,903
Year 10Point 10€68,095
Year 11Point 11€70,299
Year 14Long Service Increment 1€72,552
Year 17Long Service Increment 2€74,809

Progression is automatic on your incremental date as long as your service is satisfactory. Time spent on a career break or otherwise out of service pushes your incremental date back. The two Long Service Increments are not annual increments: they are paid for time served at the maximum of the scale, LSI 1 after 3 years and LSI 2 after 6 years. That is why they appear several years after the last point rather than one after the other.

What comes off your salary

Four deductions apply before your pay reaches your account, and one of them is specific to the public service.

Income tax, USC and PRSI

The same as any employee. Income tax at 20% up to €44,000 for a single person and 40% above, USC in bands from 0.5% to 8%, and PRSI at 4.2%.

ASC, the public service extra

The Additional Superannuation Contribution. Nothing on the first €34,500, then 3.33% to €60,000 and 3.5% above for Single Scheme members. Pre-2013 scheme members pay 10% and 10.5% on the same bands. It reduces your income tax but not your USC or PRSI.

One thing to be aware of: the take-home figures on this page include ASC but not your main superannuation contribution, which is charged separately and depends on which pension scheme you joined. Your actual net pay will be somewhat lower. We show ASC because its rates are published and identical for everyone, while the main contribution varies.

Questions people ask most

How much does an Assistant Engineer earn in Ireland?
An Assistant Engineer in a local authority starts on €48,248 a year and reaches €70,299 at the top of the ordinary scale. The two long service increments then bring it to €72,552 and finally €74,809. Figures come from Circular EL 04/2026, effective 1 June 2026.
What is the starting salary for an Assistant Engineer in a council?
€48,248 a year at point 1. That is about €7,300 above where a Graduate Engineer starts, and previous relevant experience can place you higher on the scale through incremental credit.
How long does it take to reach the top of the Assistant Engineer scale?
11 years to reach the top ordinary point of €70,299. The first long service increment follows after 3 further years at the maximum and the second after 6, so €74,809 arrives after 17 years in total.
What is the difference between a Graduate Engineer and an Assistant Engineer?
Graduate Engineer is a short four point scale running from €40,244 to €50,951, intended as an early career grade with no long service increments. Assistant Engineer is the substantive professional grade, starting at €48,248 on a much longer scale that reaches €74,809. The two overlap at the top of the graduate scale.
What comes after Assistant Engineer?
Executive Engineer, running from €60,858 to €84,596 with both long service increments. The scales overlap considerably, so an Assistant Engineer well up their scale who is promoted will be placed at whichever Executive Engineer point protects their existing salary.
Are the increments on this scale even?
Unusually so. Most steps sit between €2,100 and €2,700, with no large jumps or flat stretches. That makes the Assistant Engineer scale one of the most predictable in local government, unlike the administrative grades where single steps can exceed €3,000.
What are LSI1 and LSI2?
Long service increments, paid for time served at the maximum of the scale rather than as ordinary annual increments. LSI1 comes after 3 years at the maximum and LSI2 after 6 years. Together they add €4,510 above the last ordinary point.
How much ASC does an Assistant Engineer pay?
The whole scale is above the exemption threshold of €34,500. A Single Public Service Pension Scheme member pays 3.33% between €34,500 and €60,000, and 3.5% above, which the upper half of this scale reaches.
Is engineering pay the same in every council?
Yes. The engineering scales are national and set by circular, so the same point pays the same in every county and city council in the country. There is no Dublin weighting.
When do local government salaries increase next?
These rates come from the Public Service Agreement 2024-2026, which applied a 1% increase on 1 June 2026. That agreement is in its final year, so the next rates depend on the agreement that succeeds it. We update this page when a new circular is published.

Where these figures come from

Every euro figure on this page is taken from the official circulars below, not from salary surveys or crowd-sourced averages. Last checked 2026-08-13.

More public sector pay:

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